Abstract
Objectives
Dietary surveys are essential for guiding national efforts to reduce the burden of non-communicable disease, but individual-level dietary data are lacking in many low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of inadequate and excessive intakes of specific nutrients in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Methods
A dietary survey among 853 adults using two 24-h recalls.
Results
The majority of men (73%) and women (66%) were overweight/obese, and > 50% of participants had elevated blood pressure. Low intakes of N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, specifically α-linolenic acid (men: 94.4 mg/day among, women: 96.6 mg/day) and DHA + EPA (men: 18.2 mg/day, women: 16.0 mg/day), low fiber intake (women: 21.5 g/day), and high sodium (men: 3244 mg/day, women: 2291 mg/) and saturated fatty acids intakes (men: 29.2 g/day) were reported. There was also a suggestion of low intakes of vitamins A, B6, C and D (in both sexes), and of riboflavin, folate, B12 and calcium (in women).
Conclusions
Our findings provide initial evidence on the Bosnian population’s dietary habits and identify aspects that need attention. As the survey evolves into a continuing surveillance system, it will allow evaluation of dietary changes over time.
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Funding
This study was funded by the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Institute for Statistics of the Federation on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Selma Gicevic declares that she has no conflict of interest. Audrey J. Gaskins declares that she has no conflict of interest. Teresa T. Fung declares that she has no conflict of interest. Bernard Rosner declares that he has no conflict of interest. Edin Sabanovic declares that he has no conflict of interest. Mirjana Gurinovic declares that she has no conflict of interest. Agnes Kadvan declares that she has no conflict of interest. Emir Kremic declares that he has no conflict of interest. Walter Willett declares that he has no conflict of interest.
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Gicevic, S., Gaskins, A.J., Fung, T.T. et al. Fueling an epidemic of non-communicable disease in the Balkans: a nutritional survey of Bosnian adults. Int J Public Health 64, 873–885 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01222-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01222-3